Enzymes inhibitors: Food and non-food impacts

Enzyme inhibitors are molecules that act to slow down the catalytic effects of enzymes. Although enzymes find manifold useful applications in industry, their effects in both food and non-food systems may not always be desirable. Controlling the undesirable effects of enzymes in industrial applications is therefore both useful and necessary. Enzyme inhibitors are generally low-molecular-weight compounds and may be classified into two types: naturally occurring or endogenous forms found in living organisms, and artificial forms produced by chemical synthesis. Because the endogenous enzyme inhibitors occur naturally in living organisms, it is expected that their use in food and in biomedical applications would meet with more consumer acceptance than their synthetic counterparts. The material covered in this chapter includes enzyme inhibitor types, sources, functions and their food and biomedical applications.